Truss hinge with variations in angular settings

ABSTRACT

A truss hinge that includes a number of different labeled parts, where connections between the two different parts can constrain the truss to different angles.

This application is a divisional application Ser. No. of 14/507,664,filed Oct. 6, 2014, which was a continuation application of U.S. Ser.No. 12/968,598 filed Dec. 15, 2010, now U.S. Pat. No. 8,850,774 issuedOct. 7, 2014, which claims priority from provisional application Ser.No. 61/286,743, filed Dec. 15, 2009, the disclosures of each of theseparent applications are hereby incorporated by reference, in theirentirety.

BACKGROUND

In a stage environment, it may be useful to move scenery. Trusses areoften used in stage lighting applications to hold stage lights and otheritems as support pieces above the ground. Two pieces of truss may beheld together.

SUMMARY

An embodiment describes a truss hinge that allows hinging, andfacilitates setting different templates for moving or for pivoting thetrusses relative to one another.

Embodiments describe a hinging truss, with two truss parts that areconnected by a special hinge that allows the truss to be used and stayin multiple different configurations.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

FIG. 1 shows the assembled truss hinge from a front view;

FIG. 2 shows an edge view of the truss;

FIGS. 3-11 show different angular relations between the trusses;

FIGS. 12A, 12B, 13A and 13B show the disassembled angle truss parts; and

FIGS. 14-17 show trusses attached to the truss hinges, in differentangular positions.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION

The embodiment described herein describes a truss and hinge assemblythat allows maintaining two different truss parts at different anglesrelative to one another. FIG. 14 shows how the two truss parts 1400,1405 can be held together by a hinging part 1410. The hinging partincludes special structure as described herein which allows holding thetruss at a number of different configurations relative to one another.The two truss parts can be held at 0° relative to one another as shownin FIG. 14 for transportation, and then raised to thereby form anotherangle between the parts.

FIG. 15 shows truss parts at 5° relative to one another, with the trusshinge connected and coupled in a different configuration than that inFIG. 14. This may be the final position of the truss as it's raised, orif the pins/bolts are in different holes, the truss may pivot more,going to different angles as it is raised.

FIG. 16 illustrates a 20° angle between the truss parts, and FIG. 17illustrates a 45° angle between the truss parts.

The system as used herein includes truss hinges which are describedherein and which have connection parts attached to the ends of thetrusses. The trusses 1400, 1405 are each attached to one side of thehinge. The hinge can move between different angles, thereby hinging andholding the trusses at different angles between one another. At each ofthe plurality of angles, there is a special pin connection that allowsholding and/or the truss at that specific angle.

In this embodiment, the trusses can be transported “flat”, e.g., with a0° angle between the truss sections as shown in FIG. 14. The trusses canbe moved on carts, for example. The pin is then removed from the zerodegree hole, and placed in the hole for the desired angle. As thetrusses are raised, they pivot until the desired angle is reached, asshown in FIGS. 15-17. Once raised, the truss sections are at the desiredangle set by the pivots and the pins.

According to the embodiment, there are different stop surfaces. In theembodiment, holes, slots and surfaces interplay to limit and hold thehinging at different angles between the hinge portions. Each hole orslot is marked, and corresponds to one specific angle between the trusspieces. A pin or bolt is placed in the hole or slot, and holds thehinges at the different angles.

FIG. 1 illustrates the assembled truss hinge, formed of two differentparts that are hinged together to move relative to one another. Thehinge as shown in FIG. 1 is set in a 0° position, with the left hingepart 100 pressed completely against the right hinge part 110. Both ofthe hinge parts include different attachment holes, including the centerattachment hole 120. A bolt or pin 121 can be placed in the centerattachment hole in order to hold the two parts together at 0° fortransport.

The left side hinge plate 100 includes the connections 101, 102 whichare substantially cylindrical in inner cross-section to hold a pole endof a truss assembly. Each of the holders such as 101 includes a bolthole such as 112 which can bolt to the appropriate truss piece. Asexplained herein, there are also a number of central shafts, shown as130, 140, 150, 160 and 170. As explained herein, the openings on theleft side piece 100 are different than those of the right side piece110, and enable holding the hinge assembly into position at a rotationalamount, or locked against pivoting by more than an amount.

A pivot point 180 may allow movement or angular movement between theleft hinge part 100 and right hinge part 110. The pivot point can be apin or bolt, e.g., for a metal to metal hinging, or the bolt can have aTeflon or plastic sleeve around it. The hinging allows the movementbetween the hinge parts to different angular amounts.

FIG. 2 illustrates a side view of the hinge, showing the differentconnections to the two different hinge parts 100, 110. This also showsthe side view of the bolt 121, and how that bolt extends through bothsides of the hinge.

In operation, the system has a number of different parts that connecttogether to hold the device in two different angular locations. Inaddition, as shown, for example, in FIGS. 12 and 13, the different partscan be labeled so that or engraved in a way that allows different usersto select desired angles between the different trusses.

In the embodiment, the left plate forms the outer plate of theleft/right hinge combination. FIG. 12A shows the left/outer plate, whileFIG. 12B shows the right/inner plate of the embodiment. The outer plateincludes a number of different holes shown generally as 1200 and anumber of slots shown as 1201.

The outer plate is as shown in FIG. 12A as the left plate. However, onthe other side of the hinge, the outer plate can be the right plate.FIG. 13A shows the outer/left plate, with its engraving thereon. FIG.13B shows the outer/right plate with the engraving thereon.

FIG. 13A illustrates how engraving may be formed on these holes, showingwhich hole can hold a bolt that keeps the hinge at specified locations.The outer plate in FIG. 13A is the reversed image of the outer plate inFIG. 13B, but both will be used on opposite sides of the same truss. Forexample, in order to maintain the two truss parts at 0° relative to oneanother, bolts are placed through the 0° hole 1205 shown in FIG. 13A andthe corresponding 0° hole in FIG. 13B.

When the two trusses are thus held together, they are in the positionshown in FIG. 1 with the bolt 121 passing through the hole 1205 in theouter plate, and through the corresponding hole 1206 on the inner plateof FIG. 12B, thereby holding the two parts together.

In the embodiment, only the outer plates receive engraving, and sincethe inner plates are inside the outer plates, they receive no engravingor countersinks for bolts.

The 5° hole maintains or limits a 5° separation between the inner andouter parts. A bolt is placed in the 5° hole 1210, which mates with theslot 1211. This allows movement between the hinge parts, but does notallow the hinge parts to pivot more than 5° apart, as shown in FIG. 3.FIG. 3 illustrates the bolt 300 in the hole 1210, and how this holds thehole 1210 into the inner surface 1211 of the inner plate, therebyconstraining the movement of the hinges to 5°.

The 10° separation connection uses the hole 1220 held into the slot 1221by the bolt as shown in FIG. 4.

For 15°, the bolt holds the hole 1215 within the slot 1211, as shown inFIG. 5 where the screw 500 holds between the hole 1220 in the slot 1211.That is, the same slot 1211 is used for 5 and for 15 degrees. (and also,as explained herein, that same slot 1211 for 25 degrees).

The screw 400 constraints between the two pivots. For 20°, the hole 1225is used, against the slot 1221 as shown in FIG. 6. Again, that meansthat the same slot 1221 is used for 10° and 20° (and 30°).

In a similar way, for 25°, the hole 1230 may be used with slot 1211 asshown in FIG. 7.

For 30° the hole 1235 may be used with slot 1221 as shown in FIG. 8.

For a 35° difference, two different slots are mated, with the bolt beingplaced in the slot 1240, and held against slot 1241, as shown in FIG.10.

FIG. 11 illustrates the screw being placed in the 40 degree slot 1245,held against slot 1246.

FIG. 10 illustrates use of the 45° slot 1250 against mating slot 1251.

By using the labeled surfaces to hold between the hinge parts, the hingecan be constrained and held at different angles. In this embodiment, thetrusses are held at 0, 5, 10, 15, 20, 25, 30, 35, 40 and 45° relative toone another. Bolts hold in the different holes in order to hold thetruss pieces at these different angles relative to one another. Eachhole automatically stops the two hinge parts from moving beyond thelimit of the selected angle. However, the truss can be held and/orraised in its flat configuration, then pivoted, but the pivoting amountis constrained by which of the pins have been installed.

For example, when the 5° pivot hole is used, the truss can pivot to asmuch as 5° relative to one another. When the 10° pivot hole is used, thetrusses can move to as much as 10° relative to one another. However, thetrusses can still straighten out to 0°, and can pivot to an angle asmuch as 10°. If bolts are tightened into the holes between the outer andinner pieces, the trusses can be constrained to limit to these angularextents.

Since the outer pieces are labeled, this can facilitate setting up thetrusses at complex angles relative to one another.

In one embodiment, the truss hinge is made for example of ¾ inch steelfor the inner plates and ⅜ inch steel for the outer plates.

Although only a few embodiments have been disclosed in detail above,other embodiments are possible and the inventors intend these to beencompassed within this specification. The specification describesspecific examples to accomplish a more general goal that may beaccomplished in another way. This disclosure is intended to beexemplary, and the claims are intended to cover any modification oralternative which might be predictable to a person having ordinary skillin the art. For example other configurations for other angles arepossible. Also, while this system allows the trusses to move relative toone another until reaching the “stop angle”. This facilitates, as shownin FIGS. 14-17, raising the truss flat and maintaining it as angled.Another embodiment, however, can rigidly hold the two parts one relativeto the other.

Also, the inventor intends that only those claims which use the words“means for” are intended to be interpreted under 35 USC 112, sixthparagraph. Moreover, no limitations from the specification are intendedto be read into any claims, unless those limitations are expresslyincluded in the claims.

Where a specific numerical value is mentioned herein, it should beconsidered that the value may be increased or decreased by 20%, whilestill staying within the teachings of the present application, unlesssome different range is specifically mentioned.

The previous description of the disclosed exemplary embodiments isprovided to enable any person skilled in the art to make or use thepresent invention. Various modifications to these exemplary embodimentswill be readily apparent to those skilled in the art, and the genericprinciples defined herein may be applied to other embodiments withoutdeparting from the spirit or scope of the invention. Thus, the presentinvention is not intended to be limited to the embodiments shown hereinbut is to be accorded the widest scope consistent with the principlesand novel features disclosed herein.

What is claimed is:
 1. A method of operating a truss hinge, comprising:connecting a first hinging part to a first truss which extends away fromsaid first hinging part; connecting a second hinging part, hingedrelative to said first hinging part via a connection, to a second trusswhich extends away from said second hinging part, where each of thefirst and second hinging parts have connection surfaces, selecting anangle to exist between said first truss and said second truss; selectinga first hinging slot on said first said first hinging part and a firstsurface of said second hinging part based on said angle, where saidfirst hinging slot is a first slot for a first angle and is a secondslot for a second angle; sliding between said first and second trusseson said hinging parts using said first hinging slot and said firstsurface of said second hinging part, where said first hinging slot andsaid first surface defines a maximum angle between said first and secondtrusses at different maximum angles relative to one another, slidingsaid first truss and said second trusses between said different anglesalong said first hinging slot and said first surface of said secondhinging part until reaching a maximum angle constrained by theconnection between said first and second hinging parts, said maximumangle limiting the angle between said first and second trusses to anamount of said maximum angle, but allowing said trusses to be held atsmaller angles closer to 0° than said maximum angle and at all otherangles between said smaller angles up to said maximum angle.
 2. Themethod as in claim 1, wherein said second hinging surface is a hole. 3.The method as in claim 1, further comprising engraving on openings onsaid first hinging part, said engraving indicating the maximum anglethat will be allowed when using said openings.
 4. The method as in claim3, wherein said first hinge part includes surfaces for and markings for0°, 5°, 10°, 15°, 20°, 25°, 30°, 35°, 40° and 45° angles between saidparts.
 5. A method of operating a truss hinge, comprising: connecting afirst hinging part to a first truss that extends in a first directionaway from the first hinging part; connecting a second hinging part,hinged relative to said first hinging part, to a second truss thatextends in a second direction away from the second hinging part, saidfirst and second trusses forming a truss assembly, sliding between saidfirst and second trusses on said hinging parts using at least onecontinuous slot which defines different angles including a first hingingslot which is connected to define a first set of angles including afirst angle between said first hinging part and said second hinging partand said second hinging part includes a second hinging surface that isconnected to define a second angle between said first hinging part andsaid second hinging part, and a connection between said first hingingslot and second hinging surface that limits an angle between said firstand second trusses at different maximum angles relative to one another,moving said first truss and said second trusses between said differentangles along at least one of said first hinging slot and said secondhinging surface, and constraining a maximum angle by connecting betweensaid first and second hinging parts, said maximum angle limiting theangle between said first and second trusses to an amount of said maximumangle, but allowing said trusses to be held at smaller angles closer to0° than said maximum angle and at all other angles between said smallerangles up to said maximum angle; connecting to first surfaces on saidfirst hinging part and said second hinging part which hold said trussesat zero degrees relative to one another as one of said different angleswhere said first direction and said second directions are oppositedirections to one another when said trusses are held at zero degreesrelative to one another, and transporting said first and second trussesat said zero degree angle; and connecting to second surfaces on saidfirst hinging part and said second hinging part which hold said trussesat a desired other angle other than zero degrees, and lifting the trussassembly while allowing gravity to move said first and second trussesrelative to one another to said desired angle other than zero degrees.